Mortal Rope Dart turns Where Winds Meet’s combat into something closer to an action RPG rogue: fast, mobile, and built around stacking on-hit effects while a swarm of rodents chews through health bars in the background. It is also tightly bound to Nine Mortal Ways and to Infernal Twinblades, which together form one of the game’s highest‑ceiling PvE DPS setups.
What Mortal Rope Dart actually is
Mortal Rope Dart is a Martial Arts Weapon with a DPS role and the Bamboocut arsenal attribute. It plays as a hybrid melee–mid‑range weapon: the dart itself whips in an arc for light attacks, while core skills either pull enemies in, pull you to bosses, or modify your stance.
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Weapon type | Martial Arts Weapon (Rope Dart) |
| Combat type | Melee Combat with mid‑range reach |
| Primary role | DPS, high mobility and control |
| Arsenal attribute | Bamboocut (Wind path) |
| Recommended pairing | Infernal Twinblades (Dual Blades) |
| Playstyle | Assassin‑style: fast animations, execute burst, weak survivability |
Rope Darts favor timing and positioning over raw stat checks. Light strings are short and snappy, the main martial skill doubles as a gap closer and pull, and the weapon’s identity is built around Tokens of Gratitude and rats summoned through Rodent Rampage.
How to unlock Mortal Rope Dart
Mortal Rope Dart currently has two unlock routes:
| Method | Where | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Martial Hall infiltration | Kaifeng Region, Martial Hall | Complete a Disguise / Art Theft questline to steal the martial art. |
| Nine Mortal Ways sect | Nine Mortal Ways Martial Hall and Harvest Fall Village contact | Join Nine Mortal Ways and progress their requirements to learn the art. |
Unlock route 1: infiltrate the Martial Hall (Skill Theft)
This is the more involved route and introduces the Disguise system and Art Theft.
| Step | Objective |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to the Martial Hall in Kaifeng. You are blocked; speak with the elder near the entrance to learn what you need. |
| 2 | Head to Wuyan on the east side of Kaifeng to begin the Disguise technique quest. |
| 3 | Use Wild Sense on Wuyan to inspect his inventory and locate the Jade Sachet. |
| 4 | Visit Fang Wenxiu’s shop and draw a portrait of her. |
| 5 | Submit the portrait to Wuyan to gain a Fang Wenxiu disguise. |
| 6 | Talk to Qiao Shanlang while disguised and request the Jade Sachet to finish the Disguise unlock. |
| 7 | Return to the elder outside the Martial Hall for instructions on infiltrating the inner sanctum. |
| 8 | Find Muddle nearby, who is drinking, and draw his portrait. |
| 9 | Back at Wuyan, choose the Disguise option and select Muddle to impersonate him. |
| 10 | Enter the Martial Hall. A student stops you and says you need a Core Disciple’s Token. |
| 11 | Go to the kitchen on the right side, use Wild Sense on the cook to find the token, then request it. |
| 12 | Speak to Elder Tian in the hall in front of the entrance, then return to the instructor’s spot and use Art Theft to learn Mortal Rope Dart. |
| 13 | Talk to Ni Laoshan at the back of the Martial Hall to finish the questline. |
Unlock route 2: join Nine Mortal Ways (fast launch method)
Nine Mortal Ways also teaches Mortal Rope Dart through their sect progression, and during the global launch, there is a shortcut that bypasses Kaifeng entirely.
| Step | What to do | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travel to Harvest Fall Village. | A quest here is labeled as related to Well of Heaven Sect but actually leads to Nine Mortal Ways. |
| 2 | Talk to the local Nine Mortal Ways contact and bribe him. | The bribe is a small coin fee (hundreds), just for information. |
| 3 | Follow the quest to meet the Nine Mortal Ways elder just outside the village. | This NPC becomes your future master. |
| 4 | Pay the elder around 1,000 coins to advance the test. | He instructs you to “steal” jewelry, but the objective resolves by simply tracking the target NPC. |
| 5 | Teleport to the indicated waypoint, run up to the target, and complete the “track down” step. | No actual stealth or theft mini‑game is required here. |
| 6 | Return to the elder in Harvest Fall’s outskirts and finish the dialog. | Select the first dialog choice, go along with his story, and accept apprenticeship. |
| 7 | Use the “Join now / Seek Apprenticeship” option when it appears. | This unlocks Nine Mortal Ways and grants access to Mortal Rope Dart. |
On a fresh global‑launch character already in the first region, this Nine Mortal Ways route takes only a couple of minutes once you know which NPCs to bribe and talk to.
Mortal Rope Dart’s core skills and glossary
| Skill / Term | Type | What it does | Key / Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rope Dart – Light Attack | Light Attack | Up to four consecutive swings of the dart. | 0.3s recovery |
| Bladebound Thread | Martial Arts Skill | Throws the dart forward. Hitting a boss pulls you toward it; hitting regular enemies pulls them to you. Press again within 2.5s to perform a kick that knocks targets down and applies a Vendetta Token. | Q, 8.0s recovery |
| Rodent Rampage | Special Skill | Spends a Token of Gratitude / Token of Grace to summon a rat that attacks when you perform Light Attacks. Lasts 10s and persists through weapon swaps. | ~, 0.5s recovery |
| Coiled Dragon | Light (Charging Stance) | While in Charging Stance, throws the dart with force and knocks enemies down. | Left Click while holding R, 0.5s recovery |
| Rodent’s Resilience (charge) | Charging Skill | Consumes Endurance to release sword‑like energy that controls enemies. Each hit deals less damage, down to half of the initial hit, but range and damage scale with charge level. | Hold R, 1.0s recovery |
| Rodent’s Resilience (toss) | Charging Skill | From Charging Stance, tosses the dart to pull a distant enemy to you. | Press R, 0.3s recovery |
| Rope Dart – Conversion | Dual‑Weapon Skill | Swaps from your other weapon to Mortal Rope Dart and attacks as you switch. | TAB, 3.0s recovery |
| Token of Gratitude | Resource | Rope Dart’s internal resource; Rodent Rampage and related skills consume it. | — |
| Vendetta Token | Debuff | Applied by Bladebound Thread. Rats deal 50% more damage to marked targets and refund some Tokens of Gratitude. | — |
| Charging Stance | Stance | Special state entered while holding R. Modifies Rope Dart skills and, depending on duration, can enhance Rodent Rampage or regenerate HP and energy. |
— |
| Endurance | Defensive state | Grants immunity to most damage while charging, but you can still be crowd‑controlled. | — |
Charging Stance has important thresholds: around 1.5 seconds, you gain an empowered Rodent Rampage that auto‑summons rodents around you; around 3 and 4.5 seconds, you begin to regenerate HP and energy while staying in the stance. All of this draws on stamina, so you trade movement and evasion for sustained buffs.
Mortal Rope Dart development path and talents
Mortal Rope Dart sits on the Bamboocut – Wind development path. That path emphasizes high mobility, rapid sequences of light attacks, and several control options to keep enemies vulnerable while you deal damage.
| Talent | Unlock condition | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Rate Increase | Learn Mortal Rope Dart | Agility now increases Critical Rate for this weapon. |
| Mouse Damage Enhancement | Breakthrough Tier 1 | Increases the physical damage dealt by rats. |
| Bamboocut Increase | Breakthrough Tier 2 | Raises Bamboocut Attack and further scales Bamboocut damage from minimum Bamboocut Attack. |
| Attribute Attack Damage Enhancement | Breakthrough Tier 3 | Makes all skills deal damage from Attribute Attack and grants extra Bamboocut damage. |
| Bone Corrosion Enhancement | Breakthrough Tier 3 | Guided Blade and the varied combo Coiled Dragon apply Bone Corrosion for 5 seconds. |
The talent order underlines how the rope dart wants to be played: the first upgrade targets crit, the second specifically buffs rats, and later tiers reward stacking Bamboocut and proccing Bone Corrosion with repeated control hits.
Infernal Twinblades and Mortal Rope Dart PvE build
The most popular use of Mortal Rope Dart right now is as part of a Bamboocut arsenal pairing with Infernal Twinblades. You effectively build a “rat assassin” that leverages high hit‑count dual blades to maximize rodent procs and execute windows.
| Aspect | Summary |
|---|---|
| Weapons | Infernal Twinblades + Mortal Rope Dart |
| Role | Pure DPS, low self‑sustain, high mobility |
| Strengths | Very high DPS, excellent solo and group damage, strong execute phase, low entry complexity |
| Weaknesses | Squishy, high actions per minute when optimized, visually busy, low group support |
| Ideal content | Group dungeons, raids, bosses with clear execute windows |
Infernal Twinblades bring Flamelash (a berserk‑style state) and extremely fast light attacks. Mortal Rope Dart contributes Rodent Rampage, Bladebound Thread, and the ability to yank enemies around the arena. Together, they run on shared Bamboocut and Internal Arts that focus on penetration and stacking debuffs.
Inner Ways that matter for Rope Dart & Twinblades
The build leans heavily on four Inner Ways:
| Inner Way | Type | Interaction with the build |
|---|---|---|
| Echoes of Oblivion | Pursuit / Debuff | Infernal Twinblades light attacks inflict Sin; Flamelash light attacks inflict Karma. Hitting enemies with both allows attacks to ignore part of their Physical Defense or Bamboocut Resistance, which is crucial for boss damage. |
| Morale Chant | Stacking buff | Builds a damage buff as you land hits. The Twinblades’ hit count ramps this up quickly, and Rope Dart’s rats help maintain uptime. |
| Breaking Point | Pursuit / Stacking buff | Critical hits on Exhausted enemies apply Disintegration stacks, granting Physical Penetration and Critical Damage Bonus. This supercharges execute phases. |
| Vendetta | Buff / Recover | Extends Vendetta Token duration from Bladebound Thread and refunds Tokens of Gratitude, directly amplifying rat uptime and damage. |
Some players also experiment with Riptide Reflex, which reduces the cooldown of your current Martial Arts skill when you land a control effect. For this particular build, Vendetta, Echoes of Oblivion, Morale Chant, and Breaking Point deliver the most direct DPS gain.
Mystic Skills commonly paired with Rope Dart & Twinblades
Mystic Skills give the build burst tools and area control to complement its constant light‑attack pressure.
| Mystic Skill | Primary use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ghost Bind | AOE crowd control | Locks down groups of enemies so your Twinblades and rats can safely shred them. |
| Wolflike Frenzy | Single‑target burst | Very strong against bosses or elites when you already have Flamelash and rats running. |
| Free Morph | Boss damage, flexibility | Works alongside Wolflike Frenzy in group PvE to frontload damage windows. |
| Dragon’s Breath | Fire damage over time | Combines well with Drunken Poet to create multi‑hit, explosive strings. |
| Drunken Poet | On‑hit explosions | After Dragon’s Breath, each hit can trigger fire explosions, which synergizes with high hit‑count Twinblades. |
| Talon Strike / Soaring Spin | Gap closing and AOE | Useful openers before layering Dragon’s Breath and Drunken Poet. |
| Flaming Meteor | AOE burst | High damage in a cluster of enemies, but you remain vulnerable while casting. Often swapped for safer options. |
| Dragon Head | Extreme burst | Alternative to Flaming Meteor if you want a large damage spike at the cost of your vitality. |
How to actually play Mortal Rope Dart with Infernal Twinblades
The rotation revolves around three pillars: keeping rats active, maintaining debuffs, and timing your execute and Flamelash windows.
Core rotation pattern
| Step | Action | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | On Mortal Rope Dart, cast Bladebound Thread (Q). |
Applies Vendetta Token and lines up a knockdown if you follow up the second press. |
| 2 | Immediately use Rodent Rampage (~). |
Spends Tokens of Gratitude to summon rats that will attack on each Light Attack. |
| 3 | Swap to Infernal Twinblades via the dual‑weapon skill (TAB). |
Starts your main DPS phase on the higher hit‑count weapon. |
| 4 | Use Twinblades Light Attacks to build up Flamelash. | Stacks Sin / Karma through Echoes of Oblivion and ramps Morale Chant. |
| 5 | When Flamelash is ready and execute (F‑key) prompts appear, delay the execute slightly. | Use the brief execute window as “free DPS time” to keep hitting with buffed Light Attacks, then execute at the last safe moment. |
| 6 | When rats fall off, swap back to Rope Dart and repeat Bladebound Thread → Rodent Rampage before returning to Twinblades. | Keeps Vendetta and Rat uptime high, which is critical for total damage. |
Outside of Flamelash, weaving the Twinblades heavy‑hit Mystic Skills (like Wolflike Frenzy, Dragon’s Breath + Drunken Poet) during safe boss windows spikes your DPS even further. During heavy boss combo phases where you must parry often, rat cycling becomes harder; use moments when the boss moves away or charges to safely enter Charging Stance and refresh Rodent Rampage.
Using Charging Stance without getting punished
Charging Stance is powerful but easy to misuse:
- Tap‑charge (around 1.5 seconds) between boss patterns to empower Rodent Rampage and then immediately spend it, rather than sitting in place for long periods.
- Use Coiled Dragon from the stance to knock down approaching enemies that try to interrupt your charging.
- Reserve longer charges (HP or energy regen thresholds) for phases where bosses are disengaged or scripted.
Gear sets and stats for Mortal Rope Dart builds
Two gear sets are especially aligned with Infernal Twinblades + Mortal Rope Dart:
| Set | Pieces | Bonus | Where to get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swallowcall Set | 2‑piece | Increases minimum Physical Attack. | Campaign: Blissful Retreat, Jinning Pool; Sword Trial; Group Dungeons. |
| Swallowcall Set | 4‑piece | Light Attacks deal 15% more damage to targets below 40% Qi and 5% more to Exhausted targets. | Same sources as other Swallowcall pieces. |
| Calmwaters Set | 2‑piece | Increases Physical Defense. | Campaign: Blissful Retreat, Jinning Pool, Halo Peak; Sword Trial; Group Dungeons. |
| Calmwaters Set | 4‑piece | Perfect Dodges have a 50% chance to restore 3% Max HP and 10 Endurance. | Same sources as other Calmwaters pieces. |
For raw stats, prioritize:
- Minimum Physical Attack
- Maximum Physical Attack
- Critical Rate
Rope Dart’s talents already lean into crit and Bamboocut scaling, and Swallowcall’s 4‑piece fits perfectly with how the build treats execute phases: you intentionally hold the F‑key finisher at low Qi so you can abuse the boosted Light Attack window first.
Played correctly, Mortal Rope Dart is less about spamming a single rotation and more about managing overlapping timers: Morale Chant stacks, Vendetta Tokens, Rodent Rampage duration, Flamelash, and execute prompts. Once that rhythm clicks, Infernal Twinblades plus Mortal Rope Dart stops feeling “squishy DPS” and starts looking like one of the sharpest tools in Where Winds Meet’s arsenal.
